The Bombers and Bank of America[7] have ended their long, drawn out negotiations for a major sponsorship deal.

Lonn Trost[8], however, states that the economy has not affected the Yankees’ sponsorship deals “one iota”. Furthermore, with regard to those obstructed-view bleacher seats:

“Those seats are being sold at $5, not $12,” he said. “I think some seats may have gone out improperly invoiced. Those are going to be corrected, but those 600 seats are going to be $5.” …

“When we built the sports bar we knew architecturally there is an architectural shadow,” he said. “And that means there are a group of seats that are in the bleachers that if you are sitting very close to either the rightfield or leftfield side of the sports bar, you may not see the opposite side.

“We knew that going in, and to that extent we pre-prepared to put televisions in the wall, as well as that big screen so you don’t miss anything.”

[My take: You put televisions in the food courts so people don't miss the action. You shouldn't have to put them in the actual seating area. Whatever.]

I posed a Yankee Stadium question to Neil deMause in a BP.com chat[9]:

dianagramr (NYC): Have you reached out to Lonn Trost to take in a game together from the “obstructed view” bleacher seats at the new Stadium? And … wouldn’t you say its HORRIBLE business practice to not disclose upfront (ESPECIALLY to season ticket purchasers) that some seats may have obstructed views?

Neil deMause: Horrible business practice, by the Yankees customer service department? Who could imagine that?

Given who we’re dealing with here, I think it’s equally possible that the Yankees were trying to snooker their fans into buying seats that face a blank wall (with a TV on it), or that they simply misplaced the stamp with “OBSTRUCTED VIEW” on it. Malfeasance and incompetence are both major parts of the Yanks’ playbook.

As for Lonn and me taking in a game together, he doesn’t take my calls. And after that last paragraph I just wrote, I don’t expect he’s going to start anytime soon.

In a response to someone else’s question about Yankee ticket prices, deMause[9] stated:

I have noticed that StubHub is fairly hopping with seats at reasonable prices, leading me to believe that either season ticket holders are dumping their excess tickets, or professional scalpers got greedy and are stuck with more inventory than the economy can handle. So my advice is to remain patient, and see if some bargains show up as the season approaches – maybe the Yanks will even have to offer special two-for-one deals to fill their pricier seats like NBA teams are now doing. It’d still only help for Tuesday nights in May against the Twins, not weekends vs. the Red Sox, but twas ever thus, even at the old place.

Cashman[10] apparently “handled” A-Rod’s choice of transportation to games down in Florida:

Asked Thursday about the propriety of Rodriguez’s bringing Sucart around the team, General Manager Brian Cashman was succinct: “It’s been handled,” he said. Cashman didn’t say any more on the subject, but his feelings were clear. If rooting for Rodriguez is exasperating, imagine how it feels to be Cashman, continually defusing situations Rodriguez should never have gotten into in the first place.

The Daily News reports[11] that the “handling” of the above incident is actually a banning of Yuri Sucart from the team’s facilities.

Davey Johnson[12] jokes about his disappointment in A-Rod not playing for his U.S. contingent in the WBC:

“The only thing I was upset about Alex not being on our club is I was a Madonna fan,” Johnson said. “I was hoping she would show up.”

Happy 40th birthday to Willie (When will someone bail *me* out?) Banks. Banks had cups of coffee with the Yanks in ’97 and ’98 before being dealt to the D’backs for two minor leaguers.

Greg Cadaret turns 47 today. He was acquired (along with Eric Plunk and Luis Polonia) from the A’s in 1989 … for Rickey Henderson.

Ron Hassey turns 56 today. Hassey managed to get traded five times in less than 26 months between 1984 and 1986.

On this date in 1985, Toby Harrah is traded by the Yankees to Texas for outfielder Billy Sample[13] and a player to be named later.